Published at 25th of August 2019 10:18 pm

Book 1 Chapter 7 - What Do I Have?

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The Asian Joint Training Camp in August. Their goal was to try to be able to participate in it by any means, and the practice of Tomoki and the others suddenly heated up, with the drive and tension in each dive being entirely different. Everyone aiming for the qualifying trials at the end of July had begun a fierce spurt towards it.

Youichi’s resolve to abandon all of this summer’s three biggest competitions was especially amazing. He had already possessed abilities far above ordinary people, and if he continued to do the extraordinary practice like he was doing now, his dream and being awarded the first prize at the qualifying trials will not be unlikely, not to mention being chosen as one of the training camp participants.

Tomoki, Reiji and Ryou were presently struggling with the degree of difficulties of their entry dives, which were all on the same level as each other’s. Although, their level was considerably below the bar as to whether or not they would be one of the chosen six at the qualifying trials. From this unfavorable position, Tomoki was undergoing special training to turn the tables around with his forward 3½ somersaults in tuck position. Judging from its degree of difficulty of 2.7, it wasn’t a very complicated move to dive with. However, the impact of a middle schooler taking on the 3½ was great, and when they learned that Tomoki was striving for that event, Reiji and Ryou immediately went to talk with Kayoko.

“Please teach us the 3½.”

Kayoko, surprisingly, easily agreed.

“Of course. If you are motivated, I will teach you. But, 3½ is a huge challenge in every way, and I think the possibility of being ready to perform it in time for the qualifying trials is low, so you should just properly polish your current skills.”

They joined the 3½ practice with joy.

When tackling a new event, before divers perform it in the pool, they must first of all thoroughly grasp the intuition of the performance on land. For that, they use a special equipment called spotting equipment. (1)

Imagine that there was a four- or five-meter-high iron bar crossed over a trampoline. A rope is passed through the bar, and is tied to a round metal fitting secured to the waist of the athlete on the trampoline. There were two coaches on both sides of the bar, and they hold both ends of the rope. Every time the coaches jerk on the rope, the body of the athlete is pulled up into the air with great force. By rotating in the air, they could get tips for movement and timing. This teaches the sense of rotation to the body.

This exercise synchronises your breathing exactly with the coaches who are pulling on the ropes for this practice, and if you mess up the timing, the metal fittings attached to your waist will bite into your stomach and cause you great pain. Usually, Tomoki and the others avoided it, but this was the only time that no one complained about it.

Youichi, Tomoki, Reiji, and Ryou. While they made the MDC flourish in this way, it was always the new member Shibuki who raised a louder voice than anyone else.

Okitsu Shibuki. Until now, he had his own way of diving, and he flared up at anything from the MDC coaching methods, which were the standard methods and didn’t feel right in his skin at all.

“Saves (2) are unneeded. That’s what Gramps said. I won’t do it.”

Every time he quarreled with Kayoko, Shibuki always quoted the words of his grandfather Okitsu Shiraha, the phantom genius diver.

“Saves are one of the most important techniques for divers. When you dive from the platform, if you enter the water perpendicular to the surface, there would be no water going up. A beautiful rip entry will be settled upon. However, in reality, the angle will be too shallow or too deep, and a deviation will occur, to a greater or lesser degree. Saves will help you control that deviation in the water.”

“So, you’re saying it’s a cheater’s technique. Gramps taught me thoroughly on how to enter the water upright, rather than that cheap trick.”

“That’s an outdated way of thinking. In order to decrease the burden on the body that is the cause of injury, it’s essential for today’s divers to learn saves.”

“I don’t need it. First, I don’t know you like rip entry dives so much. Diving was always about competing with beautiful and powerful aerial performances. When did it become a contest for counting splashes?”

“From the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. An American athlete performed a flawless rip entry dive and got into the limelight. Since then, that technique spread rapidly.”

“Did I come here to dive so that I get too scared to make splashes? This is ridiculous.”

“There are ridiculous people in the world who watch a soccer match and wonder why the players don’t use their hands. Sports have been like that from the start. Getting into rules and values made by people you don’t know, and seizing anything sublimated (3).”

“The quality of the judges has fallen. Because they don’t have the power to observe aerial performances, they only focus on the splashes that are easier for them to understand.”

Losing the argument, Shibuki became sulky and started to blame the judges for being petty. Since he had never been in a competition, he had no way of knowing about the quality of the judges, so that must have also been second-hand knowledge from Shiraha.

Kayoko was again reminded of just how much influence of Shiraha’s shadow had over Shibuki. In order to build up trust with him, that shadow must be removed. However, that would require considerably drastic measures. Thinking about this, Kayoko was feeling increasingly anxious about the future.

Because usually, the living could not easily defeat the deceased.

_______________________________________________________________

Death of the Genius Diver

“August 29, 1991. A small fishing boat fishing off of the coast of Aomori Prefecture was hit by a large wave caused by Typhoon No.19, and capsized. The passengers onboard were Okitsu Shiraha-san and his eldest son, Hiromi-san*, who both died…”

Seeing this article appearing in a corner of a newspaper at the end of last month, it seemed that I was not the only one that suddenly had the memories of bygone days come and go.

Okitsu Shiraha. Once you have heard this name, you will never forget it. It had a great meaning for us who knew the Japanese diving world in the 1940s.

He was the darling of that era who created a huge sensation in the Japanese diving world at that time. If everything went smoothly, he definitely would have been the top diver of the world. I only saw him dive once—at a Takarazuka pool after World War II—but his grandiose, almost ghastly performance was still burned into the back of my eyes. I have never seen an overwhelming dive like that since then. Of the blessed people who were able to see Okitsu Shiraha’s performance even once, didn’t they all harbour those same feelings?

Nevertheless, despite having such power, Okitsu Shiraha was also a diver from a tragedy.

He gave up on the 1940 Tokyo Olympics. He didn’t participate in the 1948 London Olympics. Due to the aftermath of World War II, at that time Japan had been away from the Olympics for sixteen years. In the era where Okitsu had peaked both physically and technically, it wasn’t just the Olympics, but also the Japanese sports world who were in total self-restraint mode, so it was hardly a situation where they could participate in competitions.

If Okitsu was in an environment where he could fully demonstrate his abilities in that era…even now my heart still aches thinking about a natural talent aging and leaving his abilities unused, and the regrets of this genius going home uncrowned. In 1952, when Japan finally returned to the Olympics, Okitsu was already over thirty. What were his thoughts beneath the sky of his hometown as he gazed at this grand occasion that came too late?

Fortune and misfortune shadow a person for their entire life. This was all the more true for athletes. However, Okitsu’s bad luck wasn’t just limited to himself, but it seems to have been bad luck for the entire Japanese diving world.

If Okitsu at his peak was given the door to the world in that era, he would have opened it and spread his wings to the farthest reaches. However, that door remained tightly closed. And even after more than fifty years, the Japanese diving world is still unable to spread its wings out into the world.

Now, the door is given to all athletes. But, there is no one with the power to open it.

The spirit of the former genius diver sleeping in the sea of Tsugaru might never rest in peace, no matter how much we pray for him.

–Iwamoto Shouzou, director of the Japanese Swimming Federation

_______________________________________________________________

“Wow. This is a good find.”

Tomoki said in admiration as he raised his eyes from the booklet spread out on the table.

“My mom helped out with some JASF work. She was in charge of all the bulletins like that. When Dad was talking about Okitsu before, she pulled this out.”

Youichi said, then sucked at his unmuddied iced coffee through a straw.

They were at the Mizuki Sports Club after dryland training. The two of them went to the coffee shop Top on the first floor. Only housewives and office workers who went to the gym went there, so there were no faces from the MDC there. Because they tended towards cheap fast food, this place was more favorable for confidential talks.

“So, what do you think about that article?”

“What do I…well, anyways, I was surprised. Okitsu-kun’s father and grandfather both died at sea.”

Grandfather and father. How would I feel if I lost them both at the same time? That happened eight years ago. Tomoki couldn’t imagine what the then-eight-years-old Shibuki felt.

But, Youichi seemed to be more interested in something else.

“Do you feel a grudge?”

“A grudge? From who?”

“Okitsu Shiraha, of course.”

“Why?”

“You really are too good-natured.”

Looking like he thought this wasn’t even worth talking about, Youichi leaned back in his chair.

“You see, according to this article, Okitsu Shiraha had his best years as a diver stolen from him by the war. He couldn’t go to enough competitions, so he grew old without being able to compete against divers from overseas. How would you feel if that was you?”

“Well, I guess frustrated, but…”

“Okay. Watching Okitsu Shibuki, Okitsu Shiraha seemed to have hated diving. Okitsu’s diving is certainly incredible, the scale is huge and daring, it’s rough, but his power makes up for it. But, I can’t help but feel that power seems to have come from something like hatred and anger. It’s the anger of a diver who had talent but died without ever being rewarded for it.”

“But…the reason he was not rewarded was because of the war, so you can’t really blame diving for that.”

“It’s not that simple. Okitsu Shiraha only had some half-baked talent, and ended up having to sacrifice everything for diving. He had to endure many things, dedicate himself to diving, and what’s the result? Diving gave him nothing at all. The only thing diving did was to steal everything away from him.”

“Aren’t…”

Aren’t you reading too much into it, Tomoki wanted to say, but he hesitated, since it seemed like Youichi’s words were directed at himself. He might have also been living at the expense of everything just because of a half-baked talent.

Friends. Studies. Girlfriend. Having fun. The caramel on pudding. Even for the not-very-talented Tomoki, the amount of sacrifices he had to make were not insignificant.

“Of course, sometimes I think that I don’t want to do diving. And when I’m in a really bad mood, I really regret it, but…”

Tomoki trailed off. He thought back to when he first met Youichi six years ago, and the mysterious words that he had told him bluntly. You’ll regret it.

You’ll regret it, and become stronger.

Every time he failed at trying a new event, Tomoki remembered those words.

Looking at the unexpectedly silent Tomoki, Youichi grinned and raised an eyebrow.

“It seems like you’re struggling with the 3½.”

He was as perceptive as ever.

“Don’t give up. And don’t forget, it isn’t just Asaki Kayoko who’s expecting something from you, you know.”

“Eh?”

“My dad was saying that Okitsu Shibuki’s diving is certainly incredible, but as a diver, he has a fatal flaw. On the contrary, Tomo has the strongest weapon.”

“Weapon?”

“Asaki Kayoko noticed it. That’s why she had her eye on you.”

Tomoki took in a deep breath and looked down at his hands. Of course, there was no weapon hidden in his hands clasped on the table. Compared to Youichi, his body was embarrassingly scrawny and unreliable, so why on earth would it have any kind of power?

“Most of what my dad says is like gas from a senile fossil, but I think there’s some truth to it with regards to you. It’s probably that there’s something in you. I don’t what it is yet, but when I watch you dive, I get drawn in by something. I’ve been drawn in for a long time, which is why I’ve been watching you.”

“Watching me?”

“Don’t get careless. I’m looking out for you like this, but maybe I’ll trip you up one day as a consequence of that.”

With a straight face, Youichi left words that were neither joking nor serious, and stood up to leave the dumfounded Tomoki.

Towards that beautiful profile and body which were headed for the cash register with a sales slip in hand, the women in the shop glanced at him repeatedly with rosy gazes.

_______________________________________________________________

Okitsu Shibuki had a fatal flaw as a diver.

Conversely, Tomoki had the strongest weapon as a diver.

The words that Coach Fujitani had told Youichi didn’t leave Tomoki’s head for a long time afterwards.

What is the strongest weapon?

Why on earth would he say that when I can’t even do the 3½?

There was Youichi, who was the model of a precise and beautiful performance, and there was Shibuki, who had an unconventional personality in a powerful performance.

Tomoki wanted to know what he had.

He didn’t want to just aim for succeeding at a technique. He wanted to be like Youichi and Shibuki, and grasp the kind of diving that only he himself could do. This was the first time that he had ever thought this.

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